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Complementary therapy could treat IOP-independent risk factors
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NEW ORLEANS — Complementary or alternative therapy could assist in treating IOP-independent risk factors of glaucoma patients, but physicians must first embrace the treatments, a physician said here.
Polytherapy involving plant extracts, antioxidants and vitamins should be more utilized in the ophthalmic community for treating chronic diseases such as glaucoma, Robert Ritch, MD, FACS, said at a Late Breakers Symposium at the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.
He said many physicians say there is no treatment for IOP-independent risk factors, but with many alternative treatments with limited side effects available, investigating other options should be seriously considered.
"Polytherapy affects multiple systems enough to balance an effect, thus reducing side effects," Dr. Ritch said. "But over the years, with the advent of pharmaceutical medicine and the establishment of monotherapy, alternative medicine came to be regarded with ridicule and contempt, and people just dismissed it."
He used Ginkgo biloba extract as an example of a viable polytherapy for glaucoma treatment. Dr. Ritch said the extract improves peripheral, cerebral and ocular blood flow while decreasing platelet aggregation and stabilizing visual fields.